News for 'Pacific News Services'

Apple's India revenue almost doubles in Q1

Apple's India revenue almost doubles in Q1

Rediff.com29 Jul 2022

Technology giant Apple, which recorded $83 billion in revenue for the quarter ended June 2022, has reported a "near doubling" of revenue in India. Announcing financial results for its fiscal 2022 quarter ended June 25, Apple on Thursday said it has achieved a revenue record of $83 billion, up 2 per cent year-over-year. Apple CEO Tim Cook, during an earnings call, said the 83 billion dollar revenue was "better than we expected despite supply constraints, strong foreign exchange headwinds and the impact of our business in Russia."

India in danger of becoming Hindu nationalist State: US Congressman

India in danger of becoming Hindu nationalist State: US Congressman

Rediff.com16 Dec 2022

'I am a lover of Hinduism, a lover of Jainism, Buddhism and other religions that were born in India, but we need to protect the rights of all people there. Whether they're Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Jains'

Wrong to assume that sacked H-1B staffers have to leave America within 60 days: USCIS

Wrong to assume that sacked H-1B staffers have to leave America within 60 days: USCIS

Rediff.com28 Mar 2023

Amid mass layoffs in the tech sector, the federal agency for immigration services has said it is wrong to assume that sacked workers holding the much-sought-after H-1B visas have to leave the country within 60 days, asserting they have multiple options to stay in the US. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

GMR to divest stake in Philippines' Cebu airport

GMR to divest stake in Philippines' Cebu airport

Rediff.com2 Sep 2022

GMR Group on Friday said it will divest its entire 40 per cent stake in Cebu international airport in Philippines for an upfront payment of Rs 1,330 crore as well as earnouts to be received over a period of more than four years. The airport is being operated by GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) and GMR Airports International BV (GAIBV) holds a 40 per cent stake in the venture. A definitive agreement has been signed between GMR Airports International BV (GAIBV) and Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc (AIC) for the divestment of stake in Cebu airport.

Biden nominates Desi lawyer to head office of personnel management

Biden nominates Desi lawyer to head office of personnel management

Rediff.com24 Feb 2021

United States President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American lawyer and rights activist Kiran Ahuja to head the Office of Personnel Management, a federal agency that manages America's more than two million civil servants.

Tiger threat: Airlines suspend services

Tiger threat: Airlines suspend services

Rediff.com30 Apr 2007

Airline officials contend that following the recent air-raids by the LTTE, Sri Lanka's air traffic controllers were no longer in full control of the country's airspace.

TCS' Asia-Pacific biz to grow fastest

TCS' Asia-Pacific biz to grow fastest

Rediff.com21 May 2009

In an earlier interview, chief operating officer N Chandrasekaran had voiced this concern and said TCS was taking some measures. The impact was also evident on the overall revenue contribution, which fell to 4.7 per cent in FY09 from 5.2 per cent in FY08. TCS' head for Apac, Girija Pandey, feels the region will continue to be volatile till they reach a certain level.

What's Time Zone Politics?

What's Time Zone Politics?

Rediff.com11 Apr 2023

In a world without politics, time zones would change by an hour for a shift of 15 degrees of longitude. But, of course, political considerations apply, explains Devangshu Datta.

Air India may tweak its daily service to Australia

Air India may tweak its daily service to Australia

Rediff.com5 Aug 2014

Air India is planning to tweak its daily service to Australia, to cut losses.

US readies plan to facilitate H-1B, L1 visa holders

US readies plan to facilitate H-1B, L1 visa holders

Rediff.com10 Feb 2023

The US is planning to resume the process of domestic visa revalidation in certain categories, like H-1B and L1 visas, on a pilot basis later this year, a move that will benefit tens of thousands of foreign tech workers, particularly from India. Until 2004, certain categories of non-immigrant visas, particularly the H-1B, could be renewed or stamped inside the US. After that, for the renewal of these visas, in particular, those on H-1B, the foreign tech workers have to go out of the country, mostly to their own country to get the H-1B extension stamped on their passport.

India Inc may go for cautious hiring in Q12023

India Inc may go for cautious hiring in Q12023

Rediff.com5 Jan 2023

Corporate India is indicating cautious hiring in the March quarter of 2023 as concerns rise over possible recession and steady inflation, a survey said on Thursday. According to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, based on interviews with nearly 3,030 public and private employers, hiring intentions will decrease in the quarter both on year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis. During the quarter, 48 per cent employers expect to increase their staffing levels, 16 per cent anticipate a decrease in hiring intent and 34 per cent do not anticipate any change in hiring, resulting in a net employment outlook of 32 per cent.

Where Indian Army Scores Over PLA

Where Indian Army Scores Over PLA

Rediff.com15 Nov 2022

In the confrontation in Doklam, where Indian and Chinese soldiers were lined up eyeball-to-eyeball, senior Indian commanders recount they could sense the uncertainty in the Chinese. While Indian soldiers had to be restrained from pushing the Chinese troops back, our chief interpreter heard the Chinese officers threatening to open fire on PLA soldiers who wavered or withdrew, reveals Ajai Shukla.

How India Can Tackle Security Challenges

How India Can Tackle Security Challenges

Rediff.com9 Jun 2022

India has the ability in all respects to be a great power and address our security challenges in the best national interests, says Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).

Pentagon appreciates India's UN vote on Russia

Pentagon appreciates India's UN vote on Russia

Rediff.com10 Mar 2022

Top Pentagon officials have shown an understanding of India abstaining at the UN on resolutions against the Russian aggression against Ukraine but had a hard time pacifying many US lawmakers during a Congressional hearing on the Indo-Pacific on New Delhi's repeated abstention at the world body in New York.

Amazon readies plan for 100% dependence on renewable energy by 2025

Amazon readies plan for 100% dependence on renewable energy by 2025

Rediff.com22 Sep 2022

As part of its road map to achieve 100 per cent dependence on renewable energy by 2025, Amazon on Wednesday announced its first utility-scale renewable energy projects in India - three solar farms located in Rajasthan. These include a 210-megawatt (Mw) project to be developed by India-based developer ReNew Power, a 100 Mw project to be developed by local developer Amp Energy India, and a 110 Mw project to be developed by Brookfield Renewable Partners. By the end of 2021, the company had reached 85 per cent renewable energy across its business.

Moody's warns of India's vulnerability to volatile food, energy prices

Moody's warns of India's vulnerability to volatile food, energy prices

Rediff.com20 Jul 2022

Moody's Investors Service has warned that India, along with the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are highly vulnerable to volatile food and energy prices in the Asia-Pacific region as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to disrupt supplies and raise the cost of agricultural products, especially cereals and vegetable oils, as well as fertilizers and other agricultural inputs. This is so because these countries have a higher weighting of energy and food prices in their consumer price index (CPI) baskets, Moody's said in its report released on Tuesday. The weighting of energy and food in overall Indian CPI stands at over 55 per cent.

CCI orders probe into Google's revenue share with news publishers

CCI orders probe into Google's revenue share with news publishers

Rediff.com25 Mar 2022

The Competition Commission of India has ordered a probe into complaints against Google for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the online news market.

ADB cuts India's GDP forecast for FY23 to 7%

ADB cuts India's GDP forecast for FY23 to 7%

Rediff.com21 Sep 2022

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday slashed India's GDP growth forecast for FY23 to 7 per cent from the earlier estimate of 7.2 per cent mainly on account of higher inflation and a tight monetary policy. India's economy grew 13.5 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022-23, reflecting strong growth in services, ADB said in its second supplement to Asian Development Outlook Report 2022 (ADO 2022). "However, GDP growth is revised down from ADO 2022's forecasts to 7 per cent for FY2022 (ending March 2023) and 7.2 per cent for FY2023 (ending March 2024) as price pressures are expected to adversely impact domestic consumption, and sluggish global demand and elevated oil prices will likely be a drag on net exports," ADB said.

Thousands of toys from Hamleys, Archies fail quality test

Thousands of toys from Hamleys, Archies fail quality test

Rediff.com12 Jan 2023

The government on Thursday said 18,600 toys have been seized in the last one month from major retail stores, including those of Hamleys and Archies, at airports and malls across India for lack of BIS quality mark and use of fake licences. Meanwhile, consumer protection regulator CCPA has also issued notices to three major e-commerce players -- Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal -- for alleged violation of toys quality control order, it said. Since January 1, 2021, the government has made it mandatory for toys to conform with safety norms specified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), a national standard setting body.

Controlling Covid remains a key risk for Indian economy: S&P

Controlling Covid remains a key risk for Indian economy: S&P

Rediff.com22 Apr 2021

S&P Global Ratings on Thursday said the Indian economy is projected to grow at 11 per cent in the current fiscal, but flagged the "substantial" impact of broader lockdowns on the economy. In its report on Asia-Pacific Financial Institutions, S&P said the control of COVID-19 remains a key risk for the economy. New infections have spiked in recent weeks and the country is in the middle of a second pandemic wave.

Encouraging Indian leaders to stand up against Russian invasion: US

Encouraging Indian leaders to stand up against Russian invasion: US

Rediff.com17 Mar 2022

At her daily news conference on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked how the world's largest and oldest democracies are working together to bring peace in the region amidst the war in Ukraine.

UK's PM-in-waiting Liz Truss remains committed to India ties

UK's PM-in-waiting Liz Truss remains committed to India ties

Rediff.com5 Sep 2022

Newly-elected Conservative Party leader and prime minister in waiting Liz Truss is among the senior British politicians known for championing deeper India-UK strategic and economic ties, describing them as a "sweet spot" of global trade dynamics.

FPIs regain risk appetite, pump in nearly Rs 8,430 crore in October

FPIs regain risk appetite, pump in nearly Rs 8,430 crore in October

Rediff.com9 Nov 2022

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned net buyers in October after being net sellers in the previous month. In October, FPIs bought shares worth nearly Rs 8,430 crore ($1 billion) against net selling of Rs 13,405 crore ($1.6 billion) in September. Positive flows during three of the previous four months have pushed the domestic markets towards fresh all-time highs. At present, the Sensex and Nifty are less than 2 per cent shy of breaching record highs logged in October 2021. A rally in equity markets in the US and Europe is in hopes that the Federal Reserve may go soft on rate hikes after its November meeting.

UK PM likely to visit India later this month

UK PM likely to visit India later this month

Rediff.com5 Apr 2022

The visit, which is expected around April 22, is long overdue after Johnson was forced to cancel planned visits to India twice last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

India's forex reserves can withstand pressure on credit worthiness: S&P

India's forex reserves can withstand pressure on credit worthiness: S&P

Rediff.com25 Aug 2022

India has built up buffers against cyclical difficulties and has ample foreign exchange reserves to withstand pressure on credit worthiness, S&P Global Ratings said on Thursday. Speaking at the India Credit Spotlight 2022 webinar, S&P Sovereign & International Public Finance Ratings director Andrew Wood said the country has a strong external balance sheet and limited external debt, making debt servicing not so expensive. "The country has built up buffers against cyclical difficulties like those, which we are experiencing right now," Wood said.

7 out of 9 neighbouring nations charge less for petrol than India

7 out of 9 neighbouring nations charge less for petrol than India

Rediff.com28 Jun 2022

Amid news of a fuel shortage in some parts of the country and wider unrest over fuel issues in the neighbourhood, an analysis of the data from international tracker globalpetrolprices.com shows that the per litre price of petrol is higher in India than in seven out of its nine neighbours.

US sends 2 warships via Taiwan Strait, first transit since Pelosi's visit

US sends 2 warships via Taiwan Strait, first transit since Pelosi's visit

Rediff.com28 Aug 2022

It said that the transit was "ongoing" and that there had been "no interference from foreign military forces so far."

Zomato, Swiggy hit by hour-long technical glitch on April 6

Zomato, Swiggy hit by hour-long technical glitch on April 6

Rediff.com7 Apr 2022

Food delivery apps Zomato and Swiggy reported a nationwide outage on Wednesday. Both the platforms witnessed technical glitches and were unresponsive for almost an hour. Downdetector, a platform that collects status reports from a series of sources, recorded about 3,619 reports of outage against Zomato at 2:05 PM and about 771 reports of outage against Swiggy at around 2:21 PM. According to the sources, the outage was caused by Amazon Web Services (AWS), a cloud-services platform, which runs both platforms. Though Swiggy and Zomato are working now, some customers reported that the issue has not been solved completely and they are not able to place orders and there are payment related issues.

Airlines line up new flights as govt allows regular international ops

Airlines line up new flights as govt allows regular international ops

Rediff.com10 Mar 2022

Indian customers will have wider travel options as airlines introduce new flights from the end of March. While Malaysian Airlines and Turkish Airlines are resuming passenger flights to India after a gap of two years, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa Group will scale up their existing service in a graded manner in the summer schedule. Emirates, the largest foreign airline operating in India, too, is looking to restore its pre-Covid-19 schedule of 172 flights per week.

India to get $ 1.5 bn loan from ADB to buy Covid vax

India to get $ 1.5 bn loan from ADB to buy Covid vax

Rediff.com25 Nov 2021

The Asian Development Bank has approved a US$ 1.5 billion (around Rs 11,185 crore) loan to India for COVID-19 vaccine procurement.

Vinay Mohan Kwatra is India's next foreign secretary

Vinay Mohan Kwatra is India's next foreign secretary

Rediff.com5 Apr 2022

Known to be having extensive expertise in dealing with India's neighbourhood as well as the US, China and Europe, the 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer pipped nearly half-a-dozen others in the race for the coveted post including Indian High Commissioner to UK Gaitri Issar Kumar (1986-batch IFS) and Ruchira Kamboj (1987 batch IFS).

With China in mind, Abe departs with military pact with India

With China in mind, Abe departs with military pact with India

Rediff.com12 Sep 2020

With the signing of the pact, the Quad grouping of India, Japan, Australia and the US is set to gain more heft now, notes Dr Rajaram Panda.

Wipro buys global consultancy firm Capco for $1.45 bn

Wipro buys global consultancy firm Capco for $1.45 bn

Rediff.com4 Mar 2021

Bengaluru-headquartered IT services major Wipro Limited on Thursday announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Capco, a global management and technology consultancy to the banking and financial services industry, for USD 1.45 billion.

Who was in the room when Modi-Biden met?

Who was in the room when Modi-Biden met?

Rediff.com25 Sep 2021

Defence is at the heart of the India-United relationship, so it is interesting that General Lloyd Austin, the US secretary for defense, was not among the officials present when Joe Biden met Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi for their first meeting since Biden became president in January.

Mumbai girl Aarohi to re-enact India's 1st commercial flight by JRD Tata

Mumbai girl Aarohi to re-enact India's 1st commercial flight by JRD Tata

Rediff.com1 Oct 2021

Aarohi Pandit, the world's first woman pilot to cross the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean solo in a light sport aircraft (LSA), is all set to re-enact on 15th of this month India's first commercial flight flown by the legendry J R D Tata in 1932.

'$33 billion was taken out of India -- the highest-ever'

'$33 billion was taken out of India -- the highest-ever'

Rediff.com6 Dec 2022

'Yet the market didn't do all that badly because it was cushioned by domestic inflows.'

Modi to unveil new Indian Navy ensign, put an end to colonial past

Modi to unveil new Indian Navy ensign, put an end to colonial past

Rediff.com30 Aug 2022

The Prime Minister will commission INS Vikrant at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi and during the event, he will also "unveil the new naval ensign (Nishaan), doing away with the colonial past," the PMO said in a statement.

Singapore Airlines to get 25.1% stake in enlarged Air India group

Singapore Airlines to get 25.1% stake in enlarged Air India group

Rediff.com28 Feb 2023

Singapore Airlines' deal with Tata Sons (Tata) will inject a further SGD 360 million ($267 million) into Air India. It will give SIA a 25.1 per cent stake in the enlarged Air India group following its takeover by Tata and merger with Vistara Airlines. The November 2022 deal between Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons to further inject $267 million into Air India is one of the key strategic initiatives for future growth mentioned in the quarterly financial report. This agreement is still subject to regulatory approval. SIA in the statement said, "The merged entity will be four to five times larger in scale compared to Vistara, with a strong presence in all key airline segments in India.

India-US Military Alliance Against China?

India-US Military Alliance Against China?

Rediff.com4 Sep 2021

We do not know, because there has been no discussion, no transparency and most likely no real thinking on this matter at our end, observes Aakar Patel.

Blinken hails Modi's Ukraine remark, says US could not agree more

Blinken hails Modi's Ukraine remark, says US could not agree more

Rediff.com28 Sep 2022

Speaking at a joint press appearance with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Washington, DC, Blinken said that the US tried everything possible to avert the Ukraine conflict through diplomacy.